ISLAMABAD:The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday formally indicted former chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Rana Shamim in a contempt of court case.
While framing the charges against Rana Shamim, the IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah read out the charge sheet. Rana Shamim, however, denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. The court sought reply from Rana Shamim till February 10 and adjourned the hearing of the case till February 15.
However, on the request of Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan and an amicus curiae, the court deferred the framing of charges against the Jang Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakeelur Rehman and Editor Investigation and Editor The News Ansar Abbasi and Aamir Ghauri respectively, who were also named in the contempt case.
The contempt case originated from a news report about an affidavit of Rana Shamim, which accused former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar of manipulating to delay the release of PML-N top leadership from prison till the conduct of 2018 general election.
During the proceedings, Rana Shamim, Ansar Abbasi and amicus curiae Nasir Zaidi, a representative of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), were present in the court. At the onset of the hearing, Rana Shamim apprised the court that he had filed two new petitions. Justice Athar Minallah, however, said that charges would be framed first and other things would be looked into later.